Shoe and shoe bottom unit



Oct. 27, 1942. H. LYON' 2,299,831-

' SHOE AND SHOE BOT'ITOM UNIT Filed May 5, i941 Patented Oct. 27, 1942 UNITED STATES SHOE AND SHOE BOTTOM UNIT Harry Lyon, Haverhill, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application May 5, 1941, Serial N 0. 391,821

8 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in shoes and shot bottom units andit is concerned more especially with so-called platform shoes of the type in which a welt is associated with e. middle or platform sole for producing the effect of a platform between the upper and the outside.

In platform shoes of the above-mentioned type, as heretofore constructed, the margin of the mid-- dle or platform sole extends between the welt and the outsole and a strip of binding material is em-. ployed to cover both the edge of the middle sole and the edge of the welt, the binding strip usually having its upper edge interposed between the welt and the upper and secured in place by the inseam stitches.

One object of the present invention is to provide a platform welt shoe of improved construction which can be manufactured more economically than has been possible heretofore andwhich has, in addition to the advantages of other shoes of this type, certain novel features which add substantially to the attractiveness and stylish appearance of the shoe.

With this object in view the invention, in one aspect, provides a shoe bottom unit consisting of a middle or platform sole, and a welt which is secured to the margin of the sole and is so disposed relatively thereto that a novel and distinctive platform effect is produced when the unit is incorporated in a shoe. In the embodiment of the invention herein illustrated the welt underlies the marginal portion of the middle sole and extends outwardly a substantial distance beyond the sole edge and a relatively thin leaf or lip, in-

tegral with the body of the welt, covers the edge of the sole and overlaps the upper side thereof. Since preferably the welt is made of leather and the lip of the welt has an outer grain surface, an attractive finished appearance is imparted to that portion of the platform sole which will be exposed to View when the sole is in a shoe. The body portion of the welt which extends outwardly beyond the sole is adapted to receive the outseam stitches which are used to attach the outer or tread sole to the shoe and this portion of the unit will simulate the appearance of the exposed portion of the welt in a conventional Goodyear weld shoe.

Invention is also to be recognized as residing in a shoe having my improved platform unit incorporated therein, the shoe embodying certain novel features of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

erence to the accompanying drawing, in which: Fig. l is a fragmentary perspectlve View of a strip of welting in process of being prepared for attachment to a middle or platform sole;

, Fig. 4 is a view, partially in section along the line IV--IV of Fig. 3 and partially in perspective,

of my platform unit; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary View, partially in crosssection and partially in perspective, of a shoe in which my platform unit is incorporated.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings, my improved platform unit comprises a middle or platform sole l0 and a welt I2 which is secured to the margin of the sole, the welt extending entirely around the sole and projecting a substantial distance outwardly beyond the sole edge. The sole 1 0 may be made of any suitable inexpensive substance, such for example as any of the well-known leather substitute materials, or it may be made of cushioning material, such as felt, sheet cork, cork composition or the like. The welt [2 comprises a main or body portion [4 to which an outsole may be directly attached and a relatively thin flap or lip [6 which is integral with the body portion [4 and which covers the edge of the platform sole and the adjacent upper marginal surface thereof. The welt I2 is preferably made of leather of good quality'and has a finished grain surface I8 upon its upper side. As indicated in Fig. 1, the lip l5 maybe made advantageously by forming. an edge slit or incision 20 in a welt strip He. The welt is thus split from its inner edge so that a lower flap or lip is formed beneath the lip I6 for attachment to the lower side ofthe platform sole. A trimming cut 22 may also be made in the lower lip of the welt strip beneath the slit 20, the slit 20 and the cut 22 severing a waste piece 24 from thewelt strip so that the lip IE will be wide enough to cover the edge and adjacent upper surface portion of the platform sole l0 without extending inwardly beyond' the inner edge of the lower lip., As shown in Fig. 2, the welt I2 may be further prepared for attachment to the middle sole HJ by having the lip l6 raised and a coating 26 of a suitable adhesive, such as latex, applied to the surfaces of the lip and the body of the welt which are The invention will now be explained with ref- 55 to engage the sole It. After having been thus prepared, the welt I2 is secured to the sole I0 by pressing the inner body portion of the welt against the lower marginal portion of the sole and pressing the lip it against the ed e and upper marginal portion of the sole as the strip is being laid progressively around the sole. As shown, the opposite ends of the welt may be disposed in butted relation, as indicated at 28 in Fig. 3. A platform welt combination, such as shown in Figs; 3 and 4, is thereby formed which is adapted to be applied as a unit to the bottom of a shoe. As shown, a stitch groove 30 may be formed in the lower lip of the welt for receiving stitches for attaching the unit to the shoe.

As shown in Fig. 5, my improved platform unit I may be secured to a shoe by means of stitches M which extend through the platform or middle sole l0 and the insole 36 of the shoe and through the margin of the upper 38 which, as shown, is disposed in overlasted position upon the insole. It will be noticed that the stitches 34 extend also through the lower lip of the welt l2 and also through the lip 16, thus securely and permanently attaching the welt to the middle sole, the upper and the insole and effectively holding the lip H5 in place against the edge of the platform sole. The outsole 60 of the shoe is secured by outseam stitches 42 to the body portion Id of the welt which extends outwardly beyond the sole edge. The shoe thus produced has an extension edge welt and outsole margin structure similar to that which is a characteristic feature of a conventional Goodyear welt shoe and, in addition, a novel and distinctive platform effect is produced where the covered edge of the middle sole appears between the upper and the body portion of the welt. The attractiveness of this portion of the shoe is enhanced by the facts that the covering on the middle sole is integral with the body of the welt and that both of these parts have a finished grain leather surface. Moreover, the shoe may be made economically because of the unitary construction of the platform sole and the welt which enables these parts to be secured to the shoe by a single throughand-through stitched seam sewn by a straight needle sewing machine.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A bottom unit for a platform shoe consisting of a middle sole, and a welt extending around said sole, said welt comprising an inner portion secured to the lower surface of said sole and an outer portion disposed outwardly of the edge of the sole and having upper and lower surfaces offset downwardly from the upper and lower surfaces, respectively, of the sole, and said welt having an upturned lip covering the edge of the sole.

2. A bottom unit for a platform shoe consisting of a middle sole, and a welt extending around the marginal portion of the middle sole, said welt comprising an inner portion secured to and underlying the sole, an outer portion located outwardly of the edge of the sole and having upper and lower surfaces offset downwardly with re spect to the upper and lower surfaces, respectively, of the sole, and a lip having an upturned portion covering the edge and an inturned portion overlying the sole.

3. A bottom unit for a platform shoe comprising a platform sole, and a welt having a relatively thin inner portion secured by means of adhesive to the lower side of said sole and a relatively thick outer portion extending outwardly beyond the edge of the sole and having its upper surface below the upper surface of said sole, said welt having a lip comprising an upturned base portion secured to the edge of the sole and an inturned margin secured to the upper side of said sole.

4. A platform shoe comprising an insole, an upper having its margin disposed in overlasted position upon the insole, a middle sole, a welt having an inner portion underlying the marginal portion of said middle sole and an outer portion located outwardly of the edge of said sole, said welt having a lip covering the edge of said middle sole and the upper and lower surfaces of said outer portion of the welt being offset downwardly with respect to the upper and lower surfaces, respectively, of the sole, stitches extending through said inner portion of the welt, and through said middle sole and through said upper margin and said insole and securing said parts together, an outsole, and stitches securing said outsole to said outer portion of the welt,

5. A platform shoe comprising an insole, an upper having its margin disposed in overlasted position upon the insole, a middle sole, a welt having a relatively thin inner portion underlying the marginal portion of said middle sole and a relatively thick outer portion projecting outwardly beyond the edge of said sole, said welt having a lip integral therewith and comprising an upstanding portion spaced inwardly from the outer edge of the welt and covering the edge of said sole and a portion extending inwardly between said sole and said upper margin, stitches extending through said inner portion of the welt and said middle sole and through said lip and said upper margin and said insole and securing said parts together, an outsole, and stitches securing said outsole to said outer portion of the welt.

6. A platform shoe comprising an insole, an upper having its margin inturned and underlying said insole, a middle sole, a welt extending inwardly beneath the middle sole and outwardly beyond the edge of the middle sole and having a lip covering the edge of the middle sole, stitches securing together the middle sole, the insole and said inwardly extending portion of the welt, an outsole, and an outseam securing said outsole to said outwardly extending portion of the welt.

7. A platform shoe comprising an insole, an upper having its margin inturned and underlying said insole, a middle sole, stitches securing together said middle sole, said upper margin and said insole, a welt secured to the lower side of said middle sole and extending outwardly beyond the edge thereof, said welt having a lip covering the edge of said middle sole, an outsole, and stitches securing the outsole to the outwardly extending portion of said welt.

8. A bottom unit for a platform shoe consisting of a middle sole, and a welt split from its inner edge to form two flaps and a body portion, one flap being secured to the marginal portion of the lower side of the middle sole and the other flap being secured to the edge face and the marginal portion of the upper side of the middle Sole and said body portion projecting outwardly of said middle sole and having its upper surface offset below the upper surface of the middle sole.

HARRY LYON. 

